Learning the results of the Hancock County 10-week Lose and Win program, based on the book “The Town that Lost a Ton,” is something I really look forward to because of the tremendous difference that effort makes in the lives of those who participate in it.

In the meantime, reports Iris Simon of Health-Link and Maine Coast Memorial Hospital, the ninth week has been completed, and The Bodacious Babes retained first place for most weight lost among Ellsworth-area participants, and The Cream Puffs did the same for those in the Stonington-Deer Isle-area program.

“Statistics are now being collected in preparation for the ending celebration of the program, with awards going to individuals and teams who have accumulated not only the most weight loss but also the most time spent on physical activity,” Simon wrote.

Stonington-Deer Isle participants will celebrate the end of the program at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, and all participants, as well as members of the public, are encouraged to attend the final meeting of the program at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 6, at Ellsworth Middle School.

Dr. Erik Steele, chief medical officer for Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems and Bangor Daily News columnist, will be the featured speaker.

For information, call Simon at 667-2474 or Meredith Gray, Healthy Island Project, 348-6332.

Simon reminds readers “Lose and Win is sponsored by a coalition working together to improve the health of residents in Hancock County.”

On behalf of members of the Susan G. Abraham Memorial Endowed Scholarship Committee, chairman Jim Feverston invites you to attend a spaghetti supper and silent auction to benefit the scholarship established in the name of the late Hampden Academy student who was also a lifeguard and swimming instructor at the Lura Hoit Memorial Pool in that community.

Abraham was just 17, and a junior, when she died after a tragic automobile accident last May.

The fundraiser is 5-8 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at the Hampden Highlands United Methodist Church, 44 Kennebec Road.

Donations are $5 a person, $15 for families, and everyone is invited to attend.

Goods, services and cash contributions for the fundraiser have been made by “many area merchants, businesses and individuals,” according to information provided by Anne Gabbianelli O’Reilly.

The committee is working to raise $10,000 for the scholarship, which is expected to generate a minimum of $500 a year to provide swimming lessons for children residing in SAD 22 who would not otherwise be able to afford them.

If you cannot attend but would like to contribute to this fund, you can do so by sending a donation to the Susan Abraham Scholarship, Lura Hoit Memorial Pool, 106 Western Ave., Hampden 04444.

You can also call Feverston at 862-4647 to obtain more information.

Shirley Lowry e-mailed that the Penobscot Historical Society will hold a fish chowder supper and small-item auction beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at the Penobscot Methodist Church on Route 175 in that community, and you are invited.

Admission is $8 for adults, $4 for children.

“This is the first fundraiser of the 2008 season,” Lowry wrote of the historical society’s activities, adding that “the proceeds will benefit the Society’s General Store Fund.”

I e-mailed Lowry inquiring about the General Store Fund, and this was her reply:

The historical society has “developed an 1850’s farmhouse and a 1-room schoolhouse, all furnished; all by donations,” she said.

Both facilities “are open, for tours, on weekends, during July and August.”

Lowry added that “a friend of the Historical Society has donated a post-and-beam building that had been used as a general store during that same time period.

“We have a foundation put in, and are nearly ready to move the building to our site.

“We have the framework for an old post office, and a telephone switchboard that an operator used to work on, out of her house.

“So we are excited to get the building moved and set up so that it can be added to our tour.”

Additionally, Lowry informed me, “we have a grant to open the schoolhouse to local schoolchildren, and have a trained teacher, in costume, to conduct a class as it would have been in the mid 1800s.”

Obviously, members of the historical society are a hardworking, industrious group, and your support of their efforts by doing something as simple as enjoying a friendly, community meal would be greatly appreciated.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; javerill@bangordailynews.net; 990-8288.